Metrological traceability of measurement data from nano- to small-microplastics for a greener environment and food safety
ABOUT
PlasticTrace aims to address the urgent need for development and harmonisation of methods for the chemical identification, physical characterisation and quantification of released small micro/nanoplastics (SMPs/NPs) in drinking water, food and environmental matrices, as required by the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP).
Two-thirds of the 359 million tonnes of global plastic produced annually is released into the environment. Here it undergoes complex physicochemical processes, reacting and degrading over time.
The overall aim of this project is to develop international metrological capacity that enables the traceable measurement and characterisation of SMPs and NPs in environmental and food samples and the production of suitable reference materials, according to the metrological requirements.
STRUCTURE
The structure of PlasticTrace consists of four interconnected research WPs (1-4) supported by two non-technical WPs (5, 6) covering all parts of the project from research (1-4), management (6), training (5, dissemination, exploitation and public engagement (5).
Our team is deeply committed to ensuring the reliability and accuracy of analyses through interlaboratory comparisons, helping to refine methodologies that will support future regulatory frameworks and environmental policies.
We are now halfway through the project, and the impact of the research conducted by PlasticTrace is already evident. This research has been presented at several international meetings.
M18 Meeting 21GRD07 PlasticTrace05 – 06 FEBRUARY, Turin (IT) Hosted by the Italian National Institute of Metrology Research (INRiM)Strada delle Cacce, 91 -10135 Torino, ITALY
The European Metrology Network for Safe and Sustainable Food hosted a hybrid training event on micro and nano contaminants in food on 5-6 September 2023, in METAS (Bern-Wabern, Switzerland) and Online.
